FIELD OBSERVATIONS OF ADULT EMERGENCE AND FEEDING-BEHAVIOR OF HELICOVERPA-ZEA (LEPIDOPTERA, NOCTUIDAE) ON DALLISGRASS ERGOT HONEYDEW

Timing and magnitude of com earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), emergen ce was measured in a com, Zea mays (L.), field near College Station, T X. Approximately 15,500 H. zea per hectare were produced, with 85% of the moths emerging in a 10-d interval. Feeding H. zea moths were obser ved to be highly attracted to honeydew exudates of egrot, Claviceps pa spali (F. L. Stevens & J. G. Hall) on infected florets of dallisgrass, Paspalum dilatatum (Poir.) in an adjacent pasture. Moths began feedin g on the ergot at dusk. Feeding densities increased rapidly to peak at <1 h after sunset and then declined to relatively low levels by 2 h a fter sunset. Dissection analyses of sampled females showed that 95% we re unmated, indicating that the characteristic age of the feeding moth s was less-than-or-equal-to 1 d.